382 research outputs found
Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation
This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion
Emergence of integrated institutions in a large population of self-governing communities
Most aspects of our lives are governed by large, highly developed
institutions that integrate several governance tasks under one authority
structure. But theorists differ as to the mechanisms that drive the development
of such concentrated governance systems from rudimentary beginnings. Is the
emergence of integrated governance schemes a symptom of consolidation of
authority by small status groups? Or does integration occur because a complex
institution has more potential responses to a complex environment? Here we
examine the emergence of complex governance regimes in 5,000 sovereign,
resource-constrained, self-governing online communities, ranging in scale from
one to thousands of users. Each community begins with no community members and
no governance infrastructure. As communities grow, they are subject to
selection pressures that keep better managed servers better populated. We
identify predictors of community success and test the hypothesis that
governance complexity can enhance community fitness. We find that what predicts
success depends on size: changes in complexity predict increased success with
larger population servers. Specifically, governance rules in a large successful
community are more numerous and broader in scope. They also tend to rely more
on rules that concentrate power in administrators, and on rules that manage bad
behavior and limited server resources. Overall, this work is consistent with
theories that formal integrated governance systems emerge to organize
collective responses to interdependent resource management problems, especially
as factors such as population size exacerbate those problems.Comment: contains supplemen
Vocabulary Learning Perceptions and Willingness to Communicate: A Comparison of Two Video Game Genres
This MA thesis examined the differences in vocabulary leaning perceptions and willingness to
communicate (WTC) of players of two video game genres: the players of First Person Shooter (FPS)
games, and the players of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing (MMORPG) games. The aim of
this thesis was to ascertain which target group of video game-players perceived their genre to be more
useful or conducive to incidentally learning vocabulary and how their genre affected their WTC.
The data for the comparison were gathered using an anonymous online questionnaire created on the
Webropol website. The questionnaire consisted of three sections: the background information section,
the WTC section, and the vocabulary section. A total number of 43 participants took part in the
questionnaire. This number of participants was adequate to apply quantitative methods to the results of
the questionnaire. Questionnaire answers were given simple scores and compared using Microsoft
Excel and the IBM SPSS statistics program. In both sections of the questionnaire, the MMORPG
group outscored the FPS participant group.
An Independent Samples T-test found there to be significant differences (p=.027) in the WTC section,
but no significant differences (p=.245) were found in the vocabulary section. Nonetheless, the
vocabulary section did provide results that skewed in favour of the MMORPG participants in a similar
manner to the WTC section. The results of this thesis indicate that MMORPGs are better suited for
these two facets of language learning. While previous research has highlighted the benefits of
MMORPGs for language learning, no direct comparison has been made with other video game genres.
Future research could focus on comparing additional genres to MMORPGs or different genres
The Industry and Policy Context for Digital Games for Empowerment and Inclusion:Market Analysis, Future Prospects and Key Challenges in Videogames, Serious Games and Gamification
The effective use of digital games for empowerment and social inclusion (DGEI) of people and communities at risk of exclusion will be shaped by, and may influence the development of a range of sectors that supply products, services, technology and research. The principal industries that would appear to be implicated are the 'videogames' industry, and an emerging 'serious games' industry. The videogames industry is an ecosystem of developers, publishers and other service providers drawn from the interactive media, software and broader ICT industry that services the mainstream leisure market in games, The 'serious games' industry is a rather fragmented and growing network of firms, users, research and policy makers from a variety of sectors. This emerging industry is are trying to develop knowledge, products, services and a market for the use of digital games, and products inspired by digital games, for a range of non-leisure applications. This report provides a summary of the state of play of these industries, their trajectories and the challenges they face. It also analyses the contribution they could make to exploiting digital games for empowerment and social inclusion. Finally, it explores existing policy towards activities in these industries and markets, and draws conclusions as to the future policy relevance of engaging with them to support innovation and uptake of effective digital game-based approaches to empowerment and social inclusion.JRC.J.3-Information Societ
Virtual environments promoting interaction
Virtual reality (VR) has been widely researched in the academic environment and is now breaking
into the industry. Regular companies do not have access to this technology as a collaboration tool
because these solutions usually require specific devices that are not at hand of the common user in
offices. There are other collaboration platforms based on video, speech and text, but VR allows
users to share the same 3D space. In this 3D space there can be added functionalities or information
that in a real-world environment would not be possible, something intrinsic to VR.
This dissertation has produced a 3D framework that promotes nonverbal communication. It
plays a fundamental role on human interaction and is mostly based on emotion. In the academia,
confusion is known to influence learning gains if it is properly managed. We designed a study to
evaluate how lexical, syntactic and n-gram features influence perceived confusion and found results (not statistically significant) that point that it is possible to build a machine learning model
that can predict the level of confusion based on these features. This model was used to manipulate
the script of a given presentation, and user feedback shows a trend that by manipulating these
features and theoretically lowering the level of confusion on text not only drops the reported confusion, as it also increases reported sense of presence. Another contribution of this dissertation
comes from the intrinsic features of a 3D environment where one can carry actions that in a real
world are not possible. We designed an automatic adaption lighting system that reacts to the perceived user’s engagement. This hypothesis was partially refused as the results go against what we
hypothesized but do not have statistical significance.
Three lines of research may stem from this dissertation. First, there can be more complex features to train the machine learning model such as syntax trees. Also, on an Intelligent Tutoring
System this could adjust the avatar’s speech in real-time if fed by a real-time confusion detector.
When going for a social scenario, the set of basic emotions is well-adjusted and can enrich them.
Facial emotion recognition can extend this effect to the avatar’s body to fuel this synchronization
and increase the sense of presence. Finally, we based this dissertation on the premise of using
ubiquitous devices, but with the rapid evolution of technology we should consider that new devices
will be present on offices. This opens new possibilities for other modalities.A Realidade Virtual (RV) tem sido alvo de investigação extensa na academia e tem vindo a entrar
na indústria. Empresas comuns não têm acesso a esta tecnologia como uma ferramenta de colaboração porque estas soluções necessitam de dispositivos específicos que não estão disponíveis para
o utilizador comum em escritório. Existem outras plataformas de colaboração baseadas em vídeo,
voz e texto, mas a RV permite partilhar o mesmo espaço 3D. Neste espaço podem existir funcionalidades ou informação adicionais que no mundo real não seria possível, algo intrínseco à RV.
Esta dissertação produziu uma framework 3D que promove a comunicação não-verbal que tem
um papel fundamental na interação humana e é principalmente baseada em emoção. Na academia
é sabido que a confusão influencia os ganhos na aprendizagem quando gerida adequadamente.
Desenhámos um estudo para avaliar como as características lexicais, sintáticas e n-gramas influenciam a confusão percecionada. Construímos e testámos um modelo de aprendizagem automática
que prevê o nível de confusão baseado nestas características, produzindo resultados não estatisticamente significativos que suportam esta hipótese. Este modelo foi usado para manipular o texto
de uma apresentação e o feedback dos utilizadores demonstra uma tendência na diminuição do
nível de confusão reportada no texto e aumento da sensação de presença. Outra contribuição vem
das características intrínsecas de um ambiente 3D onde se podem executar ações que no mundo
real não seriam possíveis. Desenhámos um sistema automático de iluminação adaptativa que reage
ao engagement percecionado do utilizador. Os resultados não suportam o que hipotetizámos mas
não têm significância estatística, pelo que esta hipótese foi parcialmente rejeitada.
Três linhas de investigação podem provir desta dissertação. Primeiro, criar características mais
complexas para treinar o modelo de aprendizagem, tais como árvores de sintaxe. Além disso, num
Intelligent Tutoring System este modelo poderá ajustar o discurso do avatar em tempo real, alimentado por um detetor de confusão. As emoções básicas ajustam-se a um cenário social e podem
enriquecê-lo. A emoção expressada facialmente pode estender este efeito ao corpo do avatar para
alimentar o sincronismo social e aumentar a sensação de presença. Finalmente, baseámo-nos em
dispositivos ubíquos, mas com a rápida evolução da tecnologia, podemos considerar que novos
dispositivos irão estar presentes em escritórios. Isto abre possibilidades para novas modalidades
Designing for mod development: user creativity as product development strategy on the firm-hosted 3D software platform
The thesis is designed to improve our understanding of user participation in Web-based development practices in the commercial setting of the 3D software industry. It aims to investigate whether the creative capacities of users and their contributions to the online firm-hosted 3D platform are indicative of a novel configuration of production that influences the processes of product development across
firm boundaries. The thesis mobilizes the user participation literature developing in media research as its main theoretical framework. It builds on insights derived from work on user participation in media sites as seen through a cultural lens, in particular, as developed in Henry Jenkins' notions of 'participatory' and 'convergence culture'. The
user participation literature is supported by a combination of insights drawn from work on communities of practice and user-centred innovation so as to offer a more robust
approach to examine and appreciate the firm-hosted 3D platform as a site of user participation. More specifically, the conceptual framework for the study provides a basis
for an examination of the ways a software developer finn encourages user participation in a market and of how this enables and facilitâtes particular modes of user creativity.
These are shown to shape and maintain a firm-hosted platform that aids product development efforts that are expected to benefit the developer fimi. An empirical study of the platform, Second Life, provides the basis for the analysis of finn-user interactions which are shown to underpin a distinctive finn leaming process in the context of
product development that occurs across permeable fimi boundaries. The thesis yields insight into the way a developer firm invites its user base to partner with it in product development, indicating how aspects of user participation
associated with non-market dynamics are embedded in commercial activity and
professionalism. The pivotal role of users is revealed in the design, development and
sustainability of a firm-hosted 3D product. The findings point to interesting
relationships between the distinctive creative capacities of users and the range of
capabilities afforded by the firm-provided design space. Variations in user participation
and contributions to product development suggest that particular patterns of learning
opportunities occur. The analysis yields several new concepts including a 'modification
effect market' which are used to extend existing conceptualizations of user participation
in digitai development practices in the commercial setting of the 3D software industry
Born Digital / Grown Digital: Assessing the Future Competitiveness of the EU Video Games Software Industry
This report reflects the findings of the JRC-IPTS study on the Video games Industry, with a focus on two specific activities: online and mobile video games. The report starts by introducing the technologies, their characteristics, market diffusion and barriers to take up, and their potential economic impact, before moving to an analysis of their contribution to the competitiveness of the European ICT industry.
The research is based on internal and external expertise, literature reviews and desk research, several workshops and syntheses of the current state of the knowledge. The results were reviewed by experts and in dedicated workshops. The report concludes that the general expectations for the next years foresee a speeded up migration of contents and services to digital, in a scenario of rapidly increasing convergence of digital technologies and integration of media services taking advantage of improved and permanent network connections. The role of the so-called creative content industry is expected to increase accordingly. Communication services and media industry will co-evolve on the playground of the Internet of services, along with a product to service transformation of the software market in general. In this general context the Video games Software industry plays and is expected to play a major role. The games industry may become a major driver of the development of networks as it has been in the past for the development of computer hardware.JRC.DDG.J.4-Information Societ
Sistema multi-cámara distribuido basado en UNITY
Este Trabajo Fin de Grado (TFG) presenta una herramienta software para simular
sistemas de visión artificial inteligente con múltiples cámaras en entornos virtuales
3D generados mediante técnicas de gráficos. Esta herramienta aporta una alternativa
en la investigación en el ámbito de visión artificial (Computer Vision) que trata de
solventar las limitaciones técnicas y flexibles de los entornos de pruebas más comunes
(e.g. vídeos grabados o un sistema de múltiples cámaras en red). El objetivo de
este TFG consiste en ofrecer un entorno de pruebas con datos sintéticos para la
investigación de algoritmos en Computer Vision que sirve para simular situaciones
en una gran variedad de entornos y condiciones, algo difícilmente replicable en el
mundo real. Esta herramienta está basada en el motor gráfico Unity que permite
diseñar escenarios y entornos 3D realistas y extiende su funcionalidad con un sistema
capaz de manejar múltiples cámaras virtuales distribuidas en tiempo real, así como
la configuración de las propiedades de dichas cámaras y la posibilidad de transmitir
a otras aplicaciones los frames capturados por cada una. Mediante una arquitectura
cliente-servidor, la herramienta permite la configuración de las cámaras y su uso
tanto en remoto como en localhost. Por último, se evalúa el rendimiento del sistema
desarrollado y se discuten los resultados, estableciendo configuraciones recomendadas
y descubriendo los límites técnicos del simulador.This Bachelor Thesis presents a software tool to simulate multi-camera systems using
3D virtual data. This tool offers an alternative to traditional Computer Vision research
by addressing the technical and flexibility limitations of common testing environments
that are based on pre-recorded videos or live video streams from network
cameras. The objective of this Thesis is to provide a flexible testing environment for
Computer Vision algorithms where it can be simulated virtual scenarios which cannot
be easily replicated with real world. This tool is based on the Unity game engine that
allows to design and to load realistic 3D environments and extends its funcionality
with a multi-camera system able to simulate the management of several distributed
virtual cameras in real time, as well as setting their properties and transmitting the
captured frames to third party applications (i.e. algorithms). By using a Client-Server
architecture, this tool allows the remote configuration and use of the system as well
as in localhost mode. Finally, system performance is evaluated and results are discussed,
establishing recommended configurations and technical limitations for successful
operation
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